A Cool Family Advent Idea: An Advent Chain

(links have been verified as of 31 October 2014)

I found the following idea for a family Advent activity at a Reformed Church of America Advent Ideas Page. Lots of neat ideas here…

Advent Chain

Make your own Advent chain with a link for each day from the first Sunday in Advent through December 25. Use purple construction paper to make links for each day in Advent and white construction paper to make the link for Christmas Day. On each link write one activity. After writing an activity on each link, attach the links to make a chain. Each day remove a link and do the activity as a family. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Bake cookies for college students.
• Sing a favorite carol.
• Visit a shut-in.
• Decorate the Christmas tree.
• Set up the creche.
• Read a story about St. Francis and the creche.
• Make Christmas gift tags.
• Shop for toys to donate to a shelter for women and children.
• Deliver the toys purchased to the shelter for women and children.
• Go caroling in your neighborhood.
• Talk about what Advent means.
• Share a memory from past Christmases.
• Make ornaments for your tree.
• Do a good deed for your neighbor.
• Make luminaries to set out on Christmas Eve.
• Have each member of the family finish this sentence: To me, Christmas means:?
• Dream about what you would like Christmas to be in the future.
• Choose a project to donate money to and decorate a container to collect change from each family member.
• Decorate a tree mini-Christmas tree and give it to someone in a nursing home
• Read a favorite Christmas story.
• Invite another family to go with you to cut your Christmas trees.
• Place items for a traditional Christmas dinner in a large laundry basket and deliver the basket to an agency in your area that will bring it to a family who would not have that kind of dinner.

Note, if you do a Google Search on “Advent Chain” you can find a lot more ideas and resources.

Here are a few more examples of Advent Chain ideas and resources:

http://www.catholicmom.com/2007_lesson_plans/12.07_advent_chain.pdf

http://www.freemethodistchurch.org/Sections/Prayer/Stories/11-26-03_AdventChain.htm

http://www.teachingmom.com/features/adventchain1.pdf and http://www.teachingmom.com/features/adventchain2-b.pdf

Advent discussion questions (can be used with the Advent chain)